The truth will set you free
by shiroblade2
Summary: Lelouch found Shirley before Rolo killed her. Now she's thrust into a world of plots, intrigue, espionage, and war. Can Lelouch keep her safe and wage his war at the same time, or can she help him discover a way to prevail while preserving his soul?
1. Chapter 1

Lelouch gave Jeremiah Gottwald his instructions and began to make his way back up to the roof of the now-abandoned mall. He would have to meet with his allies who were coming by helicopter.

"Right, I've sent Jeremiah on ahead. He'll take care of any obstacles in the way," he explained to them, holding his cell phone to his ear as he raced up the motionless escalators. "Don't try to fight them. He just came over to our side."

He was halfway up the building when he noticed two people standing in the middle of what should have been an empty hall.

They stood in front of a large window which made them appear as silhouettes. But even without seeing their faces, Lelouch recognized them instantly.

"Shirley? Rolo? What are you doing here?"

The two stopped their conversation and turned to look at him. As his eyes began to adjust to the bright light behind them, Lelouch began to see that Rolo was nervous, even for him. Shirley's face, however, lit up at the sight of Lelouch.

"Lulu!" she called out. "You're ok!"

"Um, yeah," Lelouch said, unsure how to respond. This was wrong, he thought. Shirley was supposed to be safe at Suzaku's side, not standing with an assassin during a potentially deadly operation.

His eyes narrowed and a small grunt escaped his throat as he recognized the shape of the object in Shirley's right hand. She should not have been able to get her hands on a gun.

Shirley and guns were a terrible combination, as Lelouch knew all too well.

"Is the fighting over?" she asked.

So she knew he had been fighting, and came back inside knowing it would be dangerous.

'Of course!' Lelouch's eyes widened as everything clicked into place in his mind. The Geass canceler Jeremiah had used.

'But if that's the case … ' he thought.

"Lulu, let me join you!" Shirley yelled.

"What?" He had to stop himself from taking a step back.

"I remember everything, Lulu! I want to help you! I want to make everything right again!"

She looked down, as if she was suddenly sad. "At the very least, I want to help you be reunited with Nunna."

Lelouch as trembling now. "Shirley …."

* * *

The helicopter ride back to Ashford Academy was silent and tense.

Shirley looked back and forth from Lelouch to Rolo. The younger boy seemed unusually nervous even for him, glancing about as if he was frightened of his own shadow. Lelouch looked out of the window the entire time with an unchanging angry expression.

"Lulu … " she asked nervously "… are you angry at me or at Rolo?"

Rolo took a short, nervous breath at her question.

"The only person I'm angry at right now is Suzaku," Lelouch responded, not moving his head or changing his expression. "And I'm also angry at myself for thinking I could trust him to keep you safe."

Rolo leaned forward, more animated now that Lelouch did not seem upset with him.

"How did this happen, brother? How could Shirley have regained her memories? Did your Geass get weaker?"

Geass. Was that the strange power Lelouch seemed to have, she wondered.

"No. The order equipped Jeremiah with a Geass canceller. I saw it in action. It negates all effects of Geass. Shirley was obviously exposed to that."

He finally turned away from the window at looked at Shirley, his expression softening. "I'm sorry. You must have so many questions."

She nodded nervously. "I don't know where to start. You're Zero, Nunna's the Viceroy, and one of our teachers is a soldier!"

"I don't even know if I can explain it all." Lelouch looked down, as if he was suddenly afraid to meet her eyes. "You remember, then, that I'm responsible for what happened to your father?"

Shirley was slow in answering, but she still said "yes."

"And you still want to help me? You don't hate me?"

Shirley was breathing heavily now.

"Even knowing how you caught my father in all this, I simply couldn't hate you. Even though you made me forget everything, I still fell in love with you. Even though my memories were tampered with, I kept falling in love with you all over again."

Lelouch reached up and grabbed his own chest. For several seconds he looked to Shirley and Rolo as if he was in physical pain.

He took several breaths to calm himself, and when he spoke again, he changed the subject.

"Do you remember who it was that messed with your memories the second time?"

Shirley's eyes widened in fear.

"It was … the emperor … "

"Did he come to Area 11 or were you brought to the homeland?"

Shirley shuddered at the memory. Her encounter with the Emperor of Britannia had been mercifully brief, but the cold, glowing eyes he looked into hers with would haunt her forever.

"We-we were brought to the emperor."

Lelouch folded his hands in front of his face. "I thought so. He couldn't be bothered to come here to do his own dirty work."

"What does it all mean?" Rolo asked.

For the first time since he saw Shirley next to Rolo in the mall, Lelouch smiled. "It means that we can restore the memories of everyone the emperor used his Geass on. When all this is over, we can use Jeremiah's Geass canceller to restore the student council back to normal."

Shirley's eyes lit up at Lelouch's words. However, Rolo continued to appear troubled.

* * *

Once they were back at school, Lelouch led Shirley and Rolo to the library.

"Are you sure about this?" Rolo asked.

"It can't be helped," Lelouch responded.

He turned over an old encyclopedia, and the bookcase against the wall began to slide to the side, revealing an elevator.

"No way," Shirley said softly, growing afraid again. Her eyes widened in realization. "This is why you kissed me here, isn't it? You didn't want me to see this!"

"Yes and no." Lelouch stepped into the elevator and beckoned for Shirley to come in.

Shirley looked around in awe as the elevator descended. "Was this here the whole time?"

"It was built by the Britannian government before this semester as a means of spying on me," Lelouch explained. "I've turned it into my base of operations here, however."

When they reached the bottom they exited the elevator and turned right. The control room was right in front of them, but Lelouch had another destination in mind.

They entered another room which was being used as a makeshift infirmary. At the far end of the room, Sayako Shinozaki lay on her stomach on a narrow couch. Her torso was covered in bandages from the wounds inflicted on her by Jeremiah.

Shirley put her hands over her mouth. She had forgotten all about Sayako after the ermperor erased Nunnally from her mind, but now the maid was as familiar to her as anyone else in the school.

"How is she?" Lelouch asked the nurse who was taking care of Sayako, an OSI member who was under the control of his Geass.

"She'll recover, but she'll be in pain for a while," the nurse said.

Lelouch walked over to the couch and knelt down. Sayako opened her eyes and looked up at him with a pained expression.

"Master … Lelouch …. " she said weakly, "I'm sorry … I failed you … "

"No." Lelouch assured her. "Thanks to you, I had enough information to come up with a plan."

Sayako gave a weak smile, and her eyes glistened with pride. "You really … are incredible … Master Lelouch … Rolo and I together … couldn't touch Lord Jeremiah … and you faced him … all by yourself … and didn't get a scratch … "

Lelouch responded with a mere "hmph" and gave her a warm smile.

Sayoko's eyes widened as she saw who was standing over Lelouch's shoulder.

"Miss Shirley! What are – "

'It's all right," Lelouch said. "Shirley knows."

"Oh," Sayoko said. "Are you …. "

"We've got a lot to talk about."

"I see … " Sayoko looked up at Shirley. "In that case … I should apologize … for what happened in the library the other day."

"Huh?" Shirley asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Sayako was filling in for Lelouch while he was in the Chinese Federation," Rolo explained. "She may have overstepped her bounds with you, and with every other girl in the school."

Shirley looked at Lelouch, who was going red with embarrassment and running his hand through the front of his hair. "Wait, that time we kissed, that was Sayako?"

"I'm sorry," Sayako said. "I was trying to hide the secret passage from you."

"Shirley put her hands on her hips in indignation. "Well, I don't appreciate it. I thought I was kissing Lulu!"

The door opened and they all turned around to see the newcomer.

Villeta Nu had raced over from the OSI control room as soon as she heard that Lelouch and the others had returned.

"Lelouch, is it true – " she stopped when she saw who was with him.

Shirley had cowered behind Lelouch the moment Villeta entered the room.

"Shirley," the undercover gym coach said in shock. "But why?"

'Of course,' Lelouch realized. 'Shirley's remembering that she once shot Villeta. As if this situation wasn't awkward enough.'

He sighed. "It looks like this isn't the best place for a full explanation after all."

* * *

"What are you going to do?" Rolo asked when they reached the room they shared in the boys dorms.

"About what?" Lelouch asked. He sat down on a chair and held his forehead as if he had a headache.

"About Shirley. Are you going to erase her memory again?"

"No," Lelouch declared, growing upset at the very idea. "Even if I knew I could use my Geass on her again after what Jeremiah did, which I don't, she's had her memories tampered with twice. I won't do it to her a third time."

"Do you want me to kill her then?"

Lelouch gasped and looked at Rolo in horror. There was a reason he had been terrified when he saw Rolo and Shirley together in the mall, and it was not the gun Shirley had been holding.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down before responding.

"Rolo, killing is never the first resort. It's something that should only be done if there are no other options. Why do you think I haven't had you kill a single person since we began working together?"

"But you've killed so many people!"

"Yes. I have killed many people in battle. But I don't kill everyone who gets in my way or annoys me. I didn't even kill Villeta when I first used my Geass or her or when she found out my true identity. Today, I could have killed Jeremiah, but it would have been a waste."

"I see," Rolo said,considering Lelouch's words.

Lelouch got up and put his hand on Rolo's shoulder.

"Your future is ahead of you," Lelouch said, smiling at his 'brother.' "You can be whatever you want to be. There are so many things you can do with your life that don't involve killing. The choice is yours."

Rolo's eyes widened. "Right," he said excitedly.

Lelouch's smile widened. "Good. I'll go make us some dinner, and then I'll help you with the rest of your homework."

As Lelouch entered the kitchen, his smile turned into a scowl.

Rolo was trained from his earliest childhood to be a merciless, remorseless killer. Lelouch had hoped he could undo the conditioning which made Rolo into a child assassin, but he was beginning to doubt the order's brainwashing could be overcome.

If his fears turned out to be correct, Rolo would become a danger to everyone, not just Shirley, but Nunnally as well.

If that happened, Lelouch would have no choice but to put Rolo down.

* * *

_Author's note: __I recently binge-watched the entirety of Code Geass for the first time and I was quite enamored with it. But I was struck by a number of 'what-ifs. This is the other big on: What if Rolo didn't kill Shirley and she finally got to confront Lelouch about everything?_

_There are 2 changes outside of Shirley surviving. In the original episode Sayako was treated in the control room and then went with Rolo in the helicopter. I kept Sayako at the school since I don't think she should have been going out for another fight so soon and separated the room she was treated in from the control room. The way the lighting was changed in this episode made it look like a different room to begin with._


	2. Chapter 2

Rivalz was tending to his motorcycle when Suzaku arrived.

"Hey, buddy. Haven't seen you since the prez's graduation event," the fun-loving student council member said without looking up from his bike.

"Sorry about that. You know I've been very busy," Suzaku responded. "I guess Lelouch is now the president with Milly gone."

"Yeah. The change is doing wonders for our budget, but Lelouch is such a stick in the mud compared to the prez. School's a lot less interesting now."

"Speaking of which, where is Lelouch at the moment?" Suzaku asked.

"Oh, he's out with Shirley."

Suzaku's eyes narrowed. "I see."

"I guess the prez. helped Lelouch see what everyone else realized a long time ago. Seriously, the guy may be the best chess player in the world, but sometimes he's just so blind."

"You've got that right," Suzaku said with a small smirk.

Suzaku walked into the school and made his way to the library. He found Villeta and Rolo sitting in the control room with two other OSI agents.

"What happened yesterday?" he asked.

"Eyewitness testimony and video surveillance at the Ikebukuro station shows that a single assailant attacked and injured several guards before escaping. There is no evidence that the suspect acted with the aid of anyone else, or that the incident was related to terrorism," Villeta explained.

Suzaku turned to Rolo, who was examining the heart-shaped locket Lelouch had given him. "What about Lelouch? Did anything seem off about him yesterday?"

Rolo's fist closed around his phone and the locket. "It's hard to say. Lelouch seemed unusually upset when he came home yesterday."

"Upset about what?" Suzaku pressed.

"I'm not sure. He wouldn't talk about it, which isn't so unusual in and of itself. But I haven't seen him so visibly upset by anything since the Babel Tower incident."

Suzaku scowled and looked at the main screen of the control room. Lelouch was entering a fancy café with Shirley. It was not an establishment Lelouch had been to before, so there were no surveillance devices inside.

There was no direct evidence linking Lelouch to Zero or the Black Knights and plenty of evidence that he was not involved at all, but Suzaku could not allow himself to believe it. There were too many coincidences, and the current Zero knew too much about how the Knight of Seven thought to be a new person.

Seeing Shirley with Lelouch also troubled Suzaku. The conversation they held outside the station the previous day strongly implied that she knew that Lelouch had once been Zero. If he really was not the current Zero, it would be the height of irony if Shirley was the one who jogged his memory of his true self.

* * *

Lelouch and Shirley sat down at a table next to the window.

"Is this really all right?" Shirley asked as the waitress poured them water.

"Of course." Lelouch raised his hand to his left eye and removed the purple contact lens. He looked the waitress directly in the eye.

"Please ignore anything in our conversation which is not directly related to our orders."

The waitress looked at Lelouch like he was crazy for slightly over one second before her eyes glazed over. "Of course," she said.

Shirley gasped. "So that's … that's it."

Lelouch put his contact back in. "It's called Geass. Mine gives me the power to give a person a single command."

"And you used it to make me forget."

Lelouch looked uncomfortable. "I thought if I kept you at arms length you'd be safer and my enemies wouldn't use you to get to me."

"Enemies … " Shirley repeated.

"There are others like me who have Geass power. The emperor's Geass allows him to rewrite memories entirely. He used it on you and the rest of the student council to erase your memories of Nunnally. That man who attacked us in Narita had the power to read minds."

Shirley shuddered. The man with the visor had appeared out of nowhere and yet instantly knew all of her deepest secrets and vulnerabilities.

"How many … how many people like that are there?"

"I don't know. Too many. Rolo is one of them."

"Rolo?" Shirley asked. "So … are you really brothers?"

"No," Lelouch declared with an air of finality. "Rolo was an assassin sent to keep an eye on me, just like Villeta. He's on my side now, but he's still very dangerous."

Shirley could not believe it. Sweet little Rolo, an assassin?

"And what about Nunna?"

Lelouch closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Nunnally and I are siblings. The empire is using her as a hostage to try to control me."

Shirley looked down in thought. Nunnally was helpless. That anyone would think to use her in such a way was despicable.

The waitress came to take their orders. Lelouch ordered an omelet sandwich and a coffee while Shirley ordered just a cappuccino.

"But then the empire must know who you are," she asked.

Lelouch nodded. "They know I _was _Zero. They don't know that I've _reverted_ to being Zero. I've managed to get all the people who were spying on me at the school to work for me instead. And with Sayoko filling in for me Lelouch and Zero have been in different countries at the same time."

"But why - "

Lelouch raised a hand and glanced to the side with a serious expression. She turned to see what he was looking at.

A middle aged man in a Britannian security uniform who had been sitting and eating on his own at a table near the door when they entered was going into the men's room.

"I'm sorry, but could you excuse me for a moment, Shirley?" Lelouch asked.

Lelouch got up and followed the man into the restroom.

As Shirley waited the waitress came back with their drinks.

Shirley took a sip of her cappuccino and stared at the door to the men's room.

She was still unsure what she thought about the entire situation. Even if she could look past the death of her father, she was Britannian, and Zero was Britannia's greatest enemy.

She was also terrified, not for her own safety as much as for Lelouch's. She still only had a tiny glimpse into his world, but it was enough to realize how dangerous that world was.

And yet, it was Lelouch's refusal to tolerate injustice, his need to act when he saw others suffering, that drew her to him and made her fall in love with him in the first place.

After several minutes Lelouch came out of the restroom. He was pulling on the collar of his school uniform as if it was too tight.

"What was that about?" Shirley asked as he sat down.

Lelouch glanced back at the restroom, where the guard was opening the door. He put on his hat and exited the café.

"That was one of the security guards at the government bureau. He frequents this establishment during his lunch break, and now he'll help me collect intelligence on the security arrangements at the bureau."

"Is this how you're going to come up with a plan to rescue Nunnally?"

Lelouch raised his hand over his left eye. "No. At least not at first. There's someone else being held at the bureau I promised I'd save."

* * *

Kallen Kouziki sighed in resignation as the door to her cell opened.

"Took you long enough," she said without looking up at her captor. "So am I here for torture? Or maybe execution? Do what you want with me."

"I'll do no such thing."

Kallen looked up, startled by the soft but familiar voice.

Sitting before her was the Viceroy of Area 11.

"It's been such a long time. Hello Kallen," Nunnally said.

* * *

Suzaku was waiting at the front of the student council building when Lelouch and Shirley returned.

Fighting down his own anger, Suzaku forced himself to smile.

"Hey, you two! How's it going? Did you have a nice date?"

Shirley looked unsure how to respond. It was Lelouch who answered.

"You know, we managed to have some peace and quiet for once, so I'd call that a success."

"I see," Suzau said, his eyes narrowing into almost a glare.

Lelouch met his gaze with a frown.

"Shirley, why don't you go on ahead? There's something I need to talk to Suzaku about."

Now Shirley looked worried. Something was wrong. Suzaku knew it. The way Lelouch's voice changed as he asked to speak something could mean only one thing.

Lelouch was upset about something and attempting to hide it.

Suzaku quickly made up his mind. Since he was not sure what was going on, the most prudent course of action would be to have their conversation in a place where they were the most unlikely to be overheard by any students or staff.

"Let's meet on the roof," he said.

Lelouch nodded.

* * *

The walk up to the roof was tense. Suzaku followed behind Lelouch, keeping a careful eye on his former friend.

When they reached the rooftop balcony Suzaku paused. Lelouch was still facing away from him, his hands clenched into fists.

Suzaku closed the door behind them and turned back to Lelouch.

"So, what did you want to -"

Lelouch spun around and swung his fist at Suzaku, striking him in the face. The Knight of Seven, being caught completely by surprise, was knocked down by the blow.

"Ow!" Suzaku yelped. He sat up and rubbed his cheek. "What was that for?"

"**What kind of knight are you?"** Lelouch screamed.

Suzaku looked up at him in shock. Even if Lelouch was Zero, it never occurred to Suzaku that the other boy would go so far as to strike him.

Lelouch was shaking with an uncontrollable rage.

"The one thing – the _one thing_ that kept me calm when all that craziness started yesterday was the knowledge that you were with Shirley. I thought: 'No matter what happens she'll be safe with Suzaku.'"

"So tell me," he continued, breathing heavily, "why it is I found Shirley running back _into_ an evacuated building by herself, _holding a gun?"_

Suzaku's eyes widened, this time in horror. "I-I-"

"You saw Shirley throw herself off a building! How could you leave her alone right after that?"

Lelouch lowered his head and his voice softened as he began to cry.

"If I hadn't found her when I did, Shirley would have … would have …"

Suzaku stood up and approached Lelouch. He took hold of the hand Lelouch had struck him with.

"You broke two of your knuckles," he said softly.

* * *

Villeta found Suzaku waiting outside the school nurse's office. He held an ice pack to his cheek.

"Is it true?" she asked. "Did Lelouch really assault you?"

Suzaku looked at her with a sad grin. "He did more damage to himself than he did to me."

"Still," she said, growing worried, "why would he do that? Assaulting a knight of the round is a crime punishable by death."

"I agree," Suzaku said. "It's not the sort of action he'd take if he was Zero."

He sighed. "Maybe the evidence is all correct. Maybe it really is someone else this time."

"What are you going to do about it?" Villeta inquired.

Suzaku sighed. "I'm not fond of executions. Plus if we charge him it'll cause all sorts of problems at the school and with the mission to capture C.C. I anyone asks, we'll just say the two of us fell."

"Are you certain?" Villeta pressed. "Even if he's not Zero right now, he remains a threat, and he just gave us a golden opportunity to get rid of that threat for good."

Suzaku gave her a hard glare as he summoned his authority as a knight of the round.

"I know you hate him for getting you demoted and causing Lord Jeremiah's death, Villeta, but the emperor could have killed him back when I captured him. He made the choice that Lelouch was more valuable alive. If we are going to overrule the emperor's decision, it had better be for a good reason."

"I see."

* * *

After Suzaku left to return to the government bureau, Villeta entered the nurse's office.

Lelouch held up his right hand, the middle and ring fingers of which were now bound together.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded.

"I wasn't," Lelouch admitted. "I let my anger get the better of me."

He bunched his hand into as much of a fist as he could mange in front of his face. "The whole time we were heading to the roof all I could think about was how Shirley almost died … because I left her with Suzaku."

Lelouch let out a little chuckle. "That girl is going to be the death of me."

Villeta stared at Lelouch in wonder. This boy could stare death in the face without flinching. He manipulated the wills of others without a second thought, and blackmailed her with a smile. And here he was going to pieces over a girl.

Lelouch frowned as he examined his hand. Without the full use of all his fingers his efficiency in the Shinkiro would drop dramatically. He needed each and every digit to enter the calculations for the absolute defense field. Even with Britannian medical science it would be a while before he could participate in a battle again.

'No matter,' he thought to himself. 'I need time to plan anyway.'

There was someone who needed to be rescued, and a cult of superpowered zealots to be defeated.

"Contact Lord Jeremiah," he instructed Villeta. "I need to speak with him now."

* * *

Shirley sat down at her desk and took out the pictures she had saved.

Her old photographs of herself and Lelouch were gone, destroyed by Lelouch after he had erased her memories of him. But she had accumulated new ones over the previous year.

It was surprising, now that she was looking at the pictures again, to see how carefree Lelouch seemed in almost all of the photos. But if it was true that the emperor had rewritten her memory as well, then he really had been

"Lulu," she whispered.

"_What I don't get is why," she said, putting her cappuccino down. "Why do all this? You had a good life at school, didn't you?"_

"_Please, Lulu," she begged, "I have to know: what is the truth, and what are the lies?"_

_Lelouch looked down in sadness._

"_The truth is that it was all a lie," he said. "My whole life was nothing but lies. Even my name was a lie."_

_Shirley's eyes widened and she trembled._

"_The truth is, Lelouch Lamperouge never existed. It was a name I made up to keep my true identity safe."_

Sitting at her desk, Shirley took a big breath.

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that she had fallen in love with a prince.


	3. Chapter 3

Villeta was terrified.

In front of her stood Lelouch, the person she hated and feared more than any other. Behind her stood Jeremiah Gottwald, the man she had once admired above all others, the man who was now part machine and immune to knives and guns.

The man who now swore his undying loyalty to the same terrorist he once hated even more than Villeta did.

Lelouch nodded, and Jeremiah opened his mechanical eyepiece, activating his Geass canceler.

Villeta's eyes widened as a switch in her mind flipped, and for a moment she was in another place, another time.

_She was in her Knightmare, staring out at the carnage in the warehouse._

"_How could all these Royal Guards be dead?"_

_She saw a student standing in front of the dead bodies. "What happened here, boy? And why is a Britannian student in a place like this?!" she demanded._

"_Are you deaf? Answer me or I'll-"_

_She raised her machine's gun and fired a series of warning shots around the boy. To her shock, he did not react at all_

"_Answer me!"_

_The boy snarled and glared at her. "I order you to come out. At once!"_

_Villetta looked at him like he was crazy. "Who the hell do you think you are to order me?"_

_The boy seemed to reconsider his attitude and raised his hands, acknowledging the power difference between them. "My name is Allen Spacer, my father's a duke."_

"_Nobility?" Villeta asked._

"_My ID card's in my breast pocket," the boy continued. "After you confirm who I am, I'll request your protection."_

_Villetta removed hey activation key and began to exit her Knightmare. "Keep your hands up in the air, I'll take out your ID."_

_The boy grinned, and a glowing red symbol appeared in his left eye. "Now then, hand your Knightmare over to me."_

_Something came over Villeta, and she tossed the activation key to him. "Understood. The code number is XG21G2D4."_

_The boy caught the key and casually walked past her. She did not even turn around to watch as he drove her Knightmare frame out of the warehouse and into the ghetto._

Villeta leaned forward and clutched her forehead as her memories returned to her.

"Your majesty," Jeremiah asked in concern. "What's wrong?"

Villeta opened her eyes. Lelouch was leaning forward in the same pose as her.

"I'm fine," Lelouch assured him. He stood up straight. "I once faced a Geass user who had the power to read minds. To beat him I had to use my power to make myself forget my own plan. You just undid the Geass I used on myself."

Villeta turned to Jeremiah, who was smiling at this further proof of his prince's brilliance.

"Now then, Coach Villeta," Lelouch said, removing the contact lens which held back his Geass power.

She turned back to Lelouch at the sound of her name.

"Lelouch vi Britannia orders you to answer him!"

Villeta wanted to scream in horror as the power was used on her a second time, but her eyes glazed over before she had a chance.

"Yes," she said. "What is it you want to know?"

"How do you really feel about Kaneme Ohgi?" Lelouch asked.

Villeta answered in a neutral tone which belied the words coming from her mouth. "I hate myself for having fallen in love with an eleven."

Lelouch looked at her with a sad expression. "So, you really do love him."

"Yes."

Lelouch sighed and put his contact back on. Villeta blinked as she was released from his control.

"Thank you, Jeremiah. Now I know I can use my Geass a second time on people who have been exposed to your Geass canceller."

"Of course," Jeremiah responded. "Do you want me to use it again so you can put Villeta under your control permanently?"

Villeta gasped and turned to Jeremiah again. That he of all people would suggest such a thing was the greatest betrayal she had ever experienced.

"No. I'm not interested in having slaves," Lelouch replied. He walked over to the main computer of the control room and sat down.

"I need to examine the data on the order Lord Jeremiah provided. The two of you can go."

Jeremiah bowed and turned to leave. Villeta followed hesitatingly.

She closed the door and turned to grimace at her ex-boss. "Lord Jeremiah."

"Hmm?" He turned to face her.

"Why are you serving Lelouch? I was blackmailed, but you have nothing to lose by turning against him, and if you're really immune to Geass …"

"It's a matter of loyalty," Jeremiah said.

"Loyalty?"

"My loyalty was always to Lady Marianne first and foremost. Of course I would serve her son."

Villeta's eyes widened in surprise. "Her son?"

* * *

"I never would have guessed," Kallen said. "I mean, that you were a royal princess, Nunnally."

"Forgive me for hiding things from you," the Viceroy replied.

"Same for me," Kallen said.

Nunnally had ordered Kallen moved to a nicer cell and even given her nice clothes in place of her prisoner's uniform.

"It's so nostalgic, talking about Ashford Academy," Nunnally said. "They told me I wasn't to see Milly and the others, so Suzaku is the only one I've been able to talk to. They also said my brother has vanished. No one knows where he is!"

"Tell me, what sort of brother was Lelouch for you?" Kallen asked.

"Huh?" Nunnally asked.

"I used to have a brother too, so that's why I asked."

Nunnally smiled. "I'm happy just to have someone to talk to about Lelouch. I've been so worried about him since the Black Rebellion. First he lost Euphie, and then I was taken away on the same day. It must have been devastating for him."

"Euphie, do you mean Princess Euphemia?" Kallen asked in surprise. "She was close with Lelouch?"

"Yes. Euphie was always our favorite half-sibling. She and Lelouch adored each other."

Kallen leaned back in her chair.

She had seen Zero walk right up to Euphemia, look her in the eyes, and shoot her. Whatever crimes the girl who had become known as 'princess massacre' committed, it was impossible for Kallen to imagine any loving sibling doing that to his own sister.

'If he didn't love Euphemia,' she wondered, 'did he really love Nunnally either?'

* * *

Shirley took a deep breath as she sat at her desk in her dorm room.

It was time for her swim practice, but she did not feel like going. In fact, she had not participated in the swim club or entered the girls' locker room since she regained her true memories.

How could she, after everything that had occurred between her and coach Villetta?

Shirley took out her diary. But as she picked up her pen she stopped.

'What am I doing?' she wondered. 'If I write anything about Lulu it'll be physical evidence that he's Zero! But I can't write lies in my diary.'

Her phone rang, shocking her into falling out of her chair.

"Ugh," she moaned after she hit the floor.

Shirley pulled out her phone while still lying on the floor and looked at the caller ID.

"Madam president?"

"Your line wasn't busy!" the loud voice of Milly Ashford replied. "I thought you'd for sure be on the phone with Lelouch right now."

"Why?"

"You always did like to call him while changing in the locker room," Milly teased.

"I do not!" Shirley protested. "It's a convenient time to call people, not just Lulu!"

"Sure, sure. So, how are things going between you two?"

Shirley put her free hand on top of her desk and began to pull herself back up. "You know, we're still figuring things out. It wasn't exactly a normal way for people to become a couple."

"C'mon, gimme some juicy details."

"There's nothing to say," Shirley insisted. "We went on one date. That's it."

"You haven't even kissed?"

"Madam president, please!" Shirley yelled. "I'm grateful for what you did at your graduation event, but we have to move at our own pace!"

"All right, all right!" Shirley could practically hear Milly pouting over the phone. "So, has nothing really changed?"

"Well, Lulu's been a lot more open than he used to be."

"Aww. If I was still at school I could have finally had some dirt on him! Anyways, I gotta go. Just wanted to check in to see that everything was all right. See you around, Shirley!"

"See you, prez."

* * *

Diethard Ried stared at the map of the world on the monitor in front of him. The nations displayed were divided into three different colors.

"Twenty-three nations have agreed join the UFN so far," he said. "Along with the twelve governments in exile we've brought on board we now have thirty-five participants."

"Excellent," the voice of Zero answered.

"However, more nations have been caving in to Britannia as well. Now that the Saudis have been subjugated we will no longer be able to secure a bloc of Middle Eastern nations or reach our goal of a coalition of fifty nations. In addition, the longer it takes to ratify the UFN charter, the more nations we are likely to lose."

"I understand that. How long do you believe we can wait for more nations to join us?"

"Optimistically, I would say we have until the end of next week," Diethard replied. "But that assumes Prince Schniezel has not caught wind of our plan yet."

"Very well. I'll return as soon as possible."

Lelouch grimaced in frustration as he ended the conversation with Diethard. He looked up at his own monitor, which displayed all the information on the Geass order Jeremiah had given him.

He picked up one of the chess pieces in front of him and moved it six inches forward, beginning a new battle scenario.

Again, the losses on both sides were severe.

"Damn it."

"Lulu?"

Lelouch turned to see Shirley standing in the entrance to the control room.

"Shirley! What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if I could … you know … help with anything." She laughed awkwardly. "I know it's silly! Me helping you in your fight."

Lelouch gave a small laugh and smiled. "It's not. You've already been a big help to me."

"I have?"

"Remember what you said about passion being power? Your advice led me to make the right decision then, and as a result Japan and China were able to put aside their long-standing differences and join together as allies for the first time."

Shirley stopped and stared at him in surprise. Even after all the revelations she had experienced recently, learning that her offhand remarks had changed the course of world history was a shock.

"Even I need advice from time to time."

Shirley stepped forward. "So, um, what were you working on? You seemed pretty upset before."

Lelouch grimaced again. "I finally have the location of the Geass order, but I'm no closer to a plan to defeat them. I'm running out of time."

"What's the problem?"

Lelouch clicked several buttons and pulled up the file on Rolo. "Neither Jeremiah nor Rolo knows how many Geass users are there or what their powers are. And as long as my forces don't know about Geass they'll be defenseless when they come across that power."

Shirley looked at several of the pictures Lelouch had pulled up. Rolo had been working as an assassin from an even younger age than she previously realized.

"Then why not just tell them the truth?"

Lelouch looked up at her, startled.

"If the problem is that they don't know about Geass, then shouldn't the solution be to tell them about it?"

"If only it were that simple," Lelouch said. "If word of either my Geass or my identity got out it would cause the Black Knights to break apart."

"Do you have any other options?"

Lelouch did, in fact, have one other option. He could order the Black Knights to slaughter everyone at the order's headquarters without hesitation or mercy, killing any Geass users before they would have a chance to use their powers. It would result in minimal casualties for his side.

But he wanted to take as many of them alive as possible. He needed more information about Geass in order to defeat the emperor. And a slaughter like that would be so anathema to everything the Black Knights stood for that it would pose the same risks as revealing his identity, that they would turn against him and split apart.

"Telling the truth is how you got Lord Jeremiah's support," Shirley continued, "and mine."

Lelouch smiled again. He pressed several more buttons and pulled up an image of C.C.

The green-haired witch was sitting on the couch in his private quarters in the Ikaruga, surrounded by empty Pizza Hut boxes.

Shirley frowned at the sight of C.C., or more precisely, the sight of the witch in her underwear, as she always wore as little as possible when she was by herself or alone with Lelouch.

"C.C., I need you to gather the Black Knights' leaders. Have Todoh and the others return to the Ikaruga within the next two days," Lelouch instructed.

"Why?" C.C. asked.

"I've discovered the location of the Geass order. I'll need to brief everyone on what we'll be facing before we attack."

Shirley stood to the side where C.C. could not see her, but she felt a chill as a silent moment passed between the two accomplices.

"Understood," C.C. said, ending the transmission.

Lelouch then pulled out his phone.

"Hello, Sayoko? It's Lelouch."

"Yes? What is it, master Lelouch?" Her voice was far stronger than it had been the last time he had spoken with her.

"Are you up for another mission?"

"I am ready for anything."

"Very good." Lelouch turned back to the controls and pulled up another set of blueprints.

"Tomorrow we commence with Operation Flying Ace."


End file.
